Eighteen years later "it's about damn time!!"

In an earlier post I told you that my dad and Mary Ellen (Mel) have been together since I was in the 6th grade. What I didn't tell you is that it took EIGHTEEN YEARS, but they finally got married a year and a half ago!

I still remember the night I met Mary Ellen. T was in the band, and had a concert. Dad brought Mel there, and introduced her to us as his special friend. At that point, I think they had been dating for 5 or 6 months, but I honestly have no idea.

From that night forward, when we went to see Dad, Mel was usually there. After a few months, she started to spend the night when we were there, and it wasn't long before she was just part of the family. We love Mel. She is SO different from our mom, but she loves us, too.

It was because of Mel that we started to see Dad more often. He started to call more often, and he saw us much more regularly. Even after we moved 45 minutes away from Seattle, he and Mel came all the time. Mel had been married once before, but she did not have any kids. My sisters and I are her kids. (Her sister has children, too, and Mel loves them to pieces.)

After about six or seven years, my sisters and I started to bug Dad, and ask when he was going to propose to Mel. He brushed us off, and never answered the question. Then, after they had been together for twelve years, we stopped asking. We were old enough to see that their relationship worked for them the way it was. We just accepted it.

Then, out of the blue, Dad proposed. Eighteen years later, Dad and Mel were getting married and moving in together.

Did I forget to mention that?? In all those years, they never moved in together. They each have their own house.

My sisters and I were asked to stand up with them at the wedding, and Mel picked passages for us each to read. Mel's sister Eileen came from the East Coast, and we finally got to meet her. After hearing stories for most of our lives, we finally were able to put one face to one name. The rest of her family was not able to come, but we understood. Her dad is in his mid-90s, and her brother needed to stay nearby and take care of their dad. So it was just Eileen. But she was AWESOME!!

My sisters and I, J, and L's date Matt sat at a table with Eileen all night, and just laughed till it hurt!

Before the ceremony, the pastor pulled me and my sisters aside and let us know that instead of asking if people know why the couple shouldn't be together, he likes to ask why they should be together. My sisters and I knew exactly what we wanted to say, but weren't sure it would be appropriate in the eyes of the pastor. T was the brave one who asked the pastor if we could say what we wanted to say: "Because it's about damn time!" He laughed, and said it didn't bother him.

So we did. Dad and Mel laughed, so did everyone else, and then they were married.

We had a blast. We danced all night, and laughed with Eileen. J kept both of my sisters plied with alcohol, so they were a lot of fun! Mel had a wide variety of songs played, including some of Dad's "oldie but goodie" favorites. When Lionel Richie's "You Are" came on, he split the song between all three of me and my sisters. Dad loves that kind of music, and whenever I hear it, it makes me smile and think of him.


Here are some of the pictures.

Here's the Plenkovich family...finally official! (But Mel kept her last name, and mine is different now, too, but that's besides the point, right?)

The happy couple. I love those crazy kids.

Mel and her sister Eileen. Eileen is HYSTERICAL!! I want to be just like her when I grow up!

The girls. I always feel so homely next to my sisters. They're beautiful...

T, L, and me. It was HOT in that room...that's why my face is so red in all of the pictures.

P.S. Did I tell you that they are selling Mel's house, and moving into Dad's...after they remodel? At this point, the remodel is days from being done. I'm hoping to be able to go see it soon. J and I saw it in December, and it was still at no-walls-bare-studs stage...they were hanging drywall the day we went. I'm dying to see it all remodeled. It'll be strange, though. It's Dad's house but not, you know? I'll post before and after pictures at some point.